An MP who has attacked 'militant feminists' has been elected to the Women and Equalities Committee

A Conservative MP who has sparked controversy in the past with his attacks on "militant feminists" has been selected to serve on the Commons Women and Equalities Committee.

Philip Davies has in the past campaigned for Parliament to recognise International Men's Day and has complained that it has "an 'equality, but only when it suits' agenda... that often applies just to women".

In a speech to the International Conference on Men's Issues, Davies claimed that "feminist zealots really do want women to have their cake and eat it".

(PA)

Davies doesn't see anything untoward in his appointment, saying "Are you only allowed on select committees if you all share the same opinion now? That would be a novel innovation and an affront to free speech."

He added: "I believe in equality. What I want to ensure is that people are treated equally, whether they are men or women, black or white, gay or straight, whatever their religion. People shouldn't have their opportunities determined by these things, all of these things should be irrelevant.

"That's the agenda I want to pursue on the committee - a true equality that is colour-blind, gender-blind, sexuality-blind and religion-blind."

As you can probably imagine, his unopposed selection by Conservatives to fill an empty seat on the committee was pretty surprising.